Canadian fast-casual chain Freshii to be acquired by franchisor Foodtastic for $74.4 millionCanadian fast-casual chain Freshii to be acquired by franchisor Foodtastic for $74.4 million

Joanna Fantozzi

After closing dozens of restaurants over the past couple of years, struggling Canadian fast-casual chain Freshii is being acquired by restaurant franchisor Foodtastic for $2.30 per share or $74.4 million. The all-cash acquisition of the struggling healthy food concept is expected to help grow and improve the profitability of Freshii.

“We believe that this transaction recognizes the tremendous value of the Freshii brand,” Daniel Haroun said in a statement. “For almost 20 years, our incredibly passionate franchisee and other business partners and team members have been delivering on the mission of making healthy food accessible and building a leading Canadian health food brand. We believe that Freshii’s brand, franchise network and talent will benefit from Foodtastic’s greater scale – in particular, we believe that this combination will improve Freshii’s potential for growth, enhance franchisee profitability, and generate additional opportunities for our CPG business.”

Other brands under the Foodtastic umbrella include other quick-service and fast-casual Canadian restaurants like Quesada, Second Cup, Pita Pit, Milestones, Fionn MacCool's, Shoeless Joe's, Au Coq, La Belle et La Boeuf, and Monza, totaling 1,200 restaurants, including 150 locations outside of Canada.

Related:Why Freshii doesn’t think healthy food is going away any time soon

“We have been watching Freshii for some time – it is a great fit for us, and helps Foodtastic expand into a new category,” Peter Mammas, CEO of Foodtastic said in a statement. “I echo Dan’s excitement about continuing to expand and enhance the great brand that he, Matthew, and the rest of the Freshii team have built. We look forward to welcoming the Freshii franchisees into the Foodtastic family.”

The transaction and acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, pending shareholder and court approvals.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]